The Rider Fight ending in that universe was a moot point at the end of the movie: Yui had died, and Shiro had no reason to continue it. The true ending of the movie was actually revealed in the credits: the scene with the young Kanzaki siblings wasn't a flashback, it was another alteration of history created by the Time Vent Card. It parallels the change of events at the end of episode 28 (which is roughly when the movie was released, by the way) - Shiro wanted to correct history by preventing Yui from getting trapped in Mirror World that day, but still ultimately failed.

Unfortunately, even with Shiro gone, it was set up for 13 Riders and ultimately it was probably going to play out until either Shinji or Ren went down, with the remainder getting the wish. If the Rider Fight in the Episode Final universe was more about the will of those who desire a wish (and Shiro has no further connection with his resolution), then essentially it can keep going forever unless either Shinji or Ren dies, thus giving the other the wish and finishing it for certain. The main story of the series would have ended without him and Yui but this Rider Fight would just go on and on even if it's just those two fighting dragonflies for eternity.

Subarashii! It's the show you're waiting for.

Oh, and don't take the movie continuity so seriously. Movie Wars Core kind of contradicts Gotou's character development, Let's Go Kamen Riders screws up everyone's timeline and still manages to be inconsistent with Den-O's time travel logic, and none of the movies fit neatly with the timing of who possess which medals.

Good news is I haven't seen Den-O so the matters of time-travel won't really play out in my head. Really all LGKR will end up being is probably just "a movie for KR's 40th anniversary"...which happens to star OOO since he's the Rider of the moment. And yeah I have heard continuity problems really exist compared to the other Neo-Heisei series and that essentially everything should be treated as an alternate universe in the movies.

Actually The Den-O two parter in Decade leads directly into Onigashima. Plus Episode Yellow finishes a minor story that runs through the trilogy. Admittedly more of a joke than anything, but if he liked Den-O's humor he'll probably like it.

But you don't need to watch Decade in its entirety to understand Onigashima. You could just watch the Den-O arc, or skip it entirely. Not that I'm against Decade, I liked it, but still.

So I just got done re-watching all of W (just have to watch his portion of Movie War Core and the Eternal movie) and I have to say... I wanted it to be worse than I remembered. Don't ask me why, I just did. But you know a series is good when you want something to be wrong with it, but you can't find anything bad to say.

The Eternal movie is the greatest Rider movie I've ever watched. It adds depth to all the familiar characters, gives a complete side story, and fantastic fight scenes. The fact that it doesn't even star W gives it a huge hurdle to leap, and it does so fantastically.

Honestly my biggest complaint about W is Akiko, and only because she's grating, and that is a very minor complaint.

The characters are amazing and totally relate-able (sans the Dopant part), the writing and pacing are fantastic, the action is amazing for the most part... It's pretty much what every Rider season wishes it could be.

Honestly my biggest complaint about W is Akiko, and only because she's grating, and that is a very minor complaint.

The characters are amazing and totally relate-able (sans the Dopant part), the writing and pacing are fantastic, the action is amazing for the most part... It's pretty much what every Rider season wishes it could be.

...Still not my favorite though.

Yeah Akiko was the only thing I didn't like abotu W too. She's especially bad in Police Brutality The Movie.

Unfortunately, even with Shiro gone, it was set up for 13 Riders and ultimately it was probably going to play out until either Shinji or Ren went down, with the remainder getting the wish. If the Rider Fight in the Episode Final universe was more about the will of those who desire a wish (and Shiro has no further connection with his resolution), then essentially it can keep going forever unless either Shinji or Ren dies, thus giving the other the wish and finishing it for certain. The main story of the series would have ended without him and Yui but this Rider Fight would just go on and on even if it's just those two fighting dragonflies for eternity.

That's what's would've happened if that timeline were allowed to continue. But it couldn't, according to the rules of Shiro's game. That timeline, like every other one, abruptly ended sometime after Shiro failed to save Yui and reset everything with his trump card, the Time Vent. All of the various timelines, including several unseen ones, are connected in a Groundhog Day type of scenario: Shiro experimented with everyone's fates just trying to find the right scenario, none of which would ultimately save Yui.

Well from our perspective, that was the end of the timeline. Saying that Shiro has an excuse to reset time because Yui messed him up is similar to saying that Ren didn't win the Rider War in the main timeline. Events happened to their natural conclusion in the main world and Ren won the Rider Fight, even if he still presumably died as a result. Therefore, there should be a reason to have a final winner of the Rider Fight in the Episode Final universe where we at least see Shinji or Ren fall and we see the final result of the wish. Even as an alternate universe, there should be an excuse for one to see what happens to the end without just jumping the gun and rewriting history as Shiro ultimately did. Regardless of Shiro's rewrite, there will always be a dimension where he never did it and somehow there will be a winner in the Episode Final universe, even if we never see it because Shiro jumped the gun the moment Yui killed herself (but ultimately after the final Ryuki/Ryuga fight...seriously if Shiro lost at that point then he had all excuses to rewrite time before Ryuki/Ryuga ended; by not doing so it leaves open the possibility of someone peering into said time prior to the rewrite and see how it finally resolves before Shiro decides to change things...)

The ones you love the most can be the ones you hate the most. Yuji and Yuka had their precarious lives torn from them in a series of tragedies precipitated by rejections from the ones whom they cared about. Mari, resolved to fight the Orphenochs, is clueless to her father's or Smart Brain's roles in their creation. Takumi, annoyed at Mari's and Keitarou's intrusions into his life, goes out of his way to protect them. Keitarou and Yuka have had an online relationship, but circumstances are aligning them on opposite sides of the fight. The exposition of these relationships is a nice setup for potential drama.

In many ways, Takumi's story parallels Yuji's and Yuka's. They've all been forcibly thrown into a battle and given orders, but all are having trouble accepting their roles. Takumi is so far the only one who can wear the Faiz belt heroically, yet he refused to take responsibility for it, even to the point of letting it fall into enemy hands. Even after he took on his assignment, he didn't bother keeping the belt with him. Yuji and Yuka are Originals, implied to be a rare variety, but haven't totally aligned themselves with the Orphenochs. They may have killed out of instinctual hatred, but they've refused to hate humanity and did not use their Orphenoch powers to attack strangers. (Given their refusal to accept their fates, there's some false symbolism in Yuji killing his ex-girlfriend portrayed by TimePink's actress.) Everyone's a little lost in their lives, but they're all finding their directions.

Speaking of a mismatch in roles, there's Keitarou and Mari. He has the hero mentality but little heroic ability. It's fitting that he works in the laundry business, as he has to clean up everyone's mess. Also, Mari's father sent her the Faiz belt, even though she's unable to use it. She has plenty of trouble in protecting it, thanks to Orphenochs constantly trying to steal it. Just what is the belt's true purpose, and why did Smart Brain cancel the retrieval?

Smart Brain... just what are they up to? Even after their brief explanations, there are plenty of mysteries surrounding them. They're evolving humans into Orphenochs, and the name "Smart Brain" implies there's some greater intelligence involved. On the other hand, the name "Orphenoch" implies some kind of abandonment, causing them to act on their primal urges - even the shadows of shirtless guys gives them a savage aura. (And that's one telltale Inoue sign.)

For the time, the action looked fairly good, and they have made good use of the fact that a phi resembles a sign for cancelling/eliminating. Even Autovajin was somewhat decent. The Orphenochs have plenty of special effects, in contrast to their (appropriately) lifeless gray color scheme. There's the puzzle of why Smart Lady's/Naomi's actress is always wearing leather, but it's interesting to note that it was nearly a decade between her first and last appearances on Kamen Rider.

While I get why the Orphenochs all have the grey color-scheme (althought unlike timegold, I associated it with the color of ashes that they turn into), it always frustrated that they all had only one color, because the monster designs for Faiz are pretty darn cool.

But, the color scheme makes it hard to see all the details so...blegh.

While I get why the Orphenochs all have the grey color-scheme (althought unlike timegold, I associated it with the color of ashes that they turn into), it always frustrated that they all had only one color, because the monster designs for Faiz are pretty darn cool.

But, the color scheme makes it hard to see all the details so...blegh.

The way I see it, Orphenochs don't actually turn into ashes until their (second) death, when they burn up. Though there may be some relation to ashes, in that becoming an Orphenoch puts them halfway there, so it may very well represent the first step in becoming ashes.

But yeah, that monotone color scheme... it's not going to make for the prettiest of monsters.